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Muscle and
Bone Injuries
Rampant Among
Iraq War Vets
Soldiers’ minds are
damaged as well as
their bodies
By Dr. Tom Miller, Staff Writer
Veterans of foreign wars have suffered both muscle and bone injuries
because of improvised explosive
devices (IEDs). IEDs are constructed
and deployed as roadside bombs in
Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan. Besides
damage to bodies, psychological factors often accompany such war-time
experiences. Sixty percent of U.S.
Army soldiers were unable to return
to a military career after an Iraq
deployment because of a muscle, bone
or joint injury, and nearly half had
an adverse mental health diagnosis,
according to a new clinical research
study from the University of Michigan
and VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System
(Schoenfeld, Goodman, Burks et al,
2014).
This study followed 4,122 military
veterans aged 18-52 from the start of
their 15-month deployment to Iraq
during the surge of 2006 until four
years after their return. The strongest
predictors of inability to continue
serving in the military were instances
of musculoskeletal injury. Such injuries include fractures and chronic
knee, shoulder, spine and back pain.
Among this sample, psychological
diagnosis and rank played key parts
in the veterans’ ability to adapt. More
specifically, a lower rank, which
indicated socioeconomic status, was
a strong predictor of poor health
outcomes among service members,
according to research in the Journal of
Bone and Joint Surgery. This study is
believed to be among the first to follow a large series of American veterans
with musculoskeletal trauma from
the time before their injury in order
to determine predictors of health
outcomes.
In the study, 160 survivors had sustained a musculoskeletal injury from
combat, while 587 had a non-combat
musculoskeletal injury. Another
331 surviving soldiers sustained war
trauma, with 36 percent of combatrelated injuries involving the head
and neck. Consequently, the results
indicate trauma from combat-related
incidents that caused injury may
not only have long-lasting negative
psychological effects but may also
impede the physical recovery of veterans being treated for their bodily
wounds.
Veterans who suffered bone
and muscle injuries also reported
recurrent, involuntary and intrusive
memories of the traumatic event
along with post-event experiences
with loss of bone, muscle and limbs.
Some also noted dreams and nightmares about the experience. During
waking hours, many had flashbacks
of the events, which prolonged their
distress as a traumatic reminder.
These reminders add a psychological impact to the burden of adjusting to the physical limitations and
changes veterans with such wounds
must address.
Some veterans also experience
certain anxiety-related symptoms
and the well-recognized post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Pain
at multiple sites and traumatic brain
injury can also result. Individuals
deal with war-time experiences dif-
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ferently; some who suffer bone and
muscle wounds do not develop any
psychological symptoms, while others
unfortunately do. These physical and
mental symptoms were cited as prominent reasons combat veterans were
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